AUCKLAND

It has been a week of contrasting emotions for the Proteas as they mixed despair with brilliance. The lows of the MCG were offset by the highs of the SCG in two games of stark contrast.
The loss to India has been unpacked time and time again the...

Sydney: Australians might have been stunned by the collapse of their much-vaunted batting line-up in the face of brilliant New Zealand bowling at the weekend but the fall of one particular wicket was no surprise to anyone.
Shane Watson, batting at number three, had scrapped his way to 23 runs off...

Sydney: Australia's Glenn Maxwell was both mocked and praised on Monday after video emerged of him making a 'choking' gesture just moments before Kane Williamson launched the giant six that won Saturday's World Cup clash for New Zealand.
Maxwell, a controversial batsman dubbed 'The Big Show' by Australian media, was fielding...

It was a nail-biting one-wicket win for New Zealand over the arch rivals in Auckland, which ended in a KO by Kane Williamson, while India mowed down the UAE by 9 wickets. Watch highlights from Day 15 of the ICC World Cup 2015.
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Auckland: Veteran slow-bowler Daniel Vettori was hailed on Sunday as the "unsung hero" of New Zealand's knife-edge one-wicket World Cup win over Australia for applying the brakes on the four-time champions just when they threatened a run rampage.
The 36-year-old, who made his one-day international debut way back in 1997, broke...

On March 12, 2006, Michael Clarke spent the entire Australian innings sitting in the dressing-room at the Bullring that is the Wanderers with his pads on. He would not have had any reason to complain as his team, led by the peerless Ricky Ponting, muscled its way to 434. Not...

The pulse of Twitterati went up and down as the pendulum kept swinging in Auckland on Saturday, when the Cricket World Cup co-hosts played the most exciting match of the tournament in 15 days.
New Zealand and Australia are two of the hot favourites to lift the trophy on March 29,...

Auckland: Australia skipper Michael Clarke blamed their "horrendous" batting for their one-wicket loss to New Zealand in a World Cup Pool A game at the Eden Park on Saturday.
Deciding to bat first, Australia were bowled out for 151 in 32.2 overs with Black Caps pacer Trent Boult (5/27) picking up...

Auckland: New Zealand pacer Trent Boult, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling performance against Australia in a World Cup Pool A game on Saturday, said he did not think he would be able to clinch a fifer.
Boult, 25, clinched his first five-wicket haul in his...

Auckland: New Zealand legend and player of the 1992 World Cup, Martin Crowe, was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on Saturday for his service to the game.
Crowe became the third New Zealander, after Sir Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley, and the 79th overall to be inducted into the...

Auckland: Struggling Australian allrounder Shane Watson goes into Saturday's World Cup clash against New Zealand mourning the death of one of his closest friends who lost his battle with cancer this week.
Paul Hutchison, a former fast bowler for South Australia and Tasmania, died from cancer in Brisbane on Friday, aged...

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Brief Preview: In the lead-up to the 2015 World Cup, vast amounts of column inches previewed each time, talking heads congregated in television studios and Facebook timelines competed with Twitter feeds. A hysteria built slowly, where each team was dissected,...

Auckland: In the lead-up to the 2015 World Cup, vast amounts of column inches previewed each time, talking heads congregated in television studios and Facebook timelines competed with Twitter feeds. A hysteria built slowly, where each team was dissected, each player forensically examined. One recurring question came up: would the...

Auckland: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum on Friday quashed any fears over paceman Tim Southee's participation in Saturday's World Cup game against Australia, saying he is expected to play in an unchanged team.
The 26-year-old suffered a nasty blow when struck by a throw from team-mate Adam Milne during fielding practice...

Auckland: New Zealand great Martin Crowe will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the World Cup match between New Zealand and Australia at Eden Park on Saturday.
Crowe, 52, who is bravely fighting a relapse of a rare blood cancer disease, will be the third cricketer after...

Rookie Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood has singled out Brendon McCullum as the dangerman in Saturday's key Pool A match against New Zealand, saying the minimum damage he does the better.
The game is being billed as a showcase for power hitters like McCullum, Martin Guptill and Corey Anderson from the home...

Auckland: Eden Park, venue of Saturday's eagerly awaited Pool A clash between World Cup hosts Australia and New Zealand, has witnessed the best and worst of New Zealand cricket.
New Zealand tumbled to their lowest Test score in an innings at the Auckland ground in 1955, 26 against England.
A year later...

We're upon a much-anticipated match with Australia taking on New Zealand on Saturday, 28 February at Eden Park. The co-hosts have had a good start to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. New Zealand and Australia clashes in any sport always create lots of interest, especially in rugby and netball....

Auckland: New Zealand cricket legend Richard Hadlee Wednesday declared the pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult as the country's greatest ever new-ball combination.
Hadlee who played three World Cups for the Black Caps, including a semi-final in 1983 said, "I think particularly with Southee and Boult, it's our best ever...

Auckland: Former World Cup-winning captain Steve Waugh on Wednesday said New Zealand will be going into Saturday's World Cup Pool A encounter at the Eden Park here against Australia as "a slight favourites".
Waugh, who was instrumental in helping Allan Border-led Australia win 1987 World Cup and captained his country to...

Auckland: New Zealand coach Mike Hesson Wednesday played down the hype surrounding the explosive World Cup showdown between the co-hosts, saying it will be treated as just another round-robin encounter.
But it will be easier said than done for both teams as come Saturday the intensity on and off the field...

A hostile crowd buoyed by New Zealand's perfect start to the World Cup is set to turn Eden Park into a bear pit for visiting Australia on Saturday, but allrounder Shane Watson is "excited" by the prospect of a rancorous reception.
Both countries' fans have eagerly awaited the fixture, the first...

Auckland: Combative Australian opener David Warner is looking forward to being insulted by New Zealand fans when the co-hosts meet in the World Cup, saying his team will feed on the fury.
Saturday's match at Eden Park is being billed as "the final before the final" as the winner will top...

The much-awaited World Cup clash between co-hosts Australia and New Zealand will be about more than just the race for quarter-final places with the cricket boards of both countries today confirming that the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy will be at stake.
The trophy, named after two of Australia and New Zealand's greatest...

Auckland: Ahead of their Pool A World Cup game on Feb 28, Australian opener Aaron Finch on Monday spoke of the threat posed by New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, terming him to be "brutal" with the willow.
In their last match, the 33-year-old took the England bowling apart single-handedly, clobbering his...

In-form opener Aaron Finch shrugged off concerns that a rusty Australia will be caught cold by high-flying trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand on Saturday in what will be their first World Cup match in two weeks.
The Black Caps have won three games while Australia, who started their campaign with a thumping...

Brisbane: Australia's Steve Smith has firmly backed national coach Darren Lehmann following some harsh criticism from leg-spinning great Shane Warne.
Warne attacked former team-mate Lehmann on Sydney radio on Saturday, saying the Australian coach had too much say over onfield matters.
He even suggested Lehmann had decided when Australia declared against India...

As we come closer to the World Cup, all the teams are busy sorting their permutations and combinations. Every World Cup brings with it a bank of surprises that opens up the tournament, but this one is all set to get a notch higher as there are no clear favourites...

Czech Jiri Vesely came out on top in a battle of left-handed qualifiers to claim his maiden ATP tour title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino at the Auckland Open on Saturday.
A day after stunning world number 16 Kevin Anderson in the semi-finals, the big-serving 21-year-old sent...

Persistent rain washed out the third one-day international between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday after less than 30 overs of the hosts' innings.
New Zealand had been well-placed at 145 for 3 in the 29th over of the game that had already been reduced...